Toby Keith #1 Album

Toby Keith's The Bus Songs Rolls In At #1

Singer-Songwriter's Collection of Humorous Songs 

Debuts At Top of Comedy Albums Chart

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and Academy of Country Music Poet's Award recipient Toby Keith is constantly writing songs. Ideas and melodies are surfacing in everyday conversation, rising up from an old memory, jumping out during a round of golf, or even at a military forward operating base with a handful of soldiers. And in the midst of his unending torrent of lyrics and song titles, there are always a few he has fun with that makes everybody laugh. Those "bus songs" have become among the most beloved tunes in his catalog precisely for their humor. Showcasing a collection of the funny songs on one album, Keith just released The Bus Songs, which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Comedy Albums Chart this week.

 

With 12 tracks of pure, road-worthy fun, The Bus Songs prompts laugher from adult humor to hilarious over-imbibing and seriously funny self-deprecation songwriting. The album's songs fill in the gaps in Keith's prodigious catalog with the cuts and live recordings too good to hold back.

 

The entertainer's fans are not the only ones coming along for the ride, with critics taking note including the Toledo Blade who wrote that The Bus Songs "...is nontraditional in every sense of the word. The album has 12 songs written by Keith and his pals while out on the road. They are goofy, sometimes raunchy, and sure to offend more than a few people. Unorthodox? Sure. Successful? Unbelievably so. Keith is a hitmaker with one of the most loyal followings in country music."

Released on Show Dog Nashville, The Bus Songs includes the new song "Wacky Tobaccy," for which the video was shot, appropriately, on a tour bus. Already viral with more than 10 million views, the clip also features the namesake of another of the album's tracks, "Weed With Willie." A live version of that song that has never been released is also on the track listing. The album's other new composition is "Shitty Golfer," a title which pretty much speaks for itself.

 

More never before released recordings include new versions of "Hell No," "The Critic," "Runnin' Block," and "Ballad Of Balad." The latter two along with "Call A Marine" are products of Keith's frequent USO Tours to military installations in locations throughout the world. He notes, "When you land a helicopter in the desert and you're sitting around a forward operating base with 30 soldiers for an hour, I'm not under the belief that every single one is a country music fan, or a Toby fan," he says. "But it is a bunch of guys and I'm thinking to myself, 'Well, offer them something.' So I ask if they've ever been somebody's wingman, but you get set up with a bad date? I know that stuff may not be socially acceptable, but I don't care. It's not for that. It served a purpose and got a bunch of guys in the middle of a desert laughing and high-fiving each other. We're just eating lunch, giving them a 30-minute smile, taking pictures, handing over their USO gift and then jumping on the chopper to the next one."

Back on the road in the U.S., the Toby Keith Interstates & Tailgates Tour continues its standing room only run. For the summer leg of the tour, Keith started with sold out dates in New York to California, and also headlined in Nashville for the first time in 13 years. With dates across North America, the Allentown Morning Call noted "The Oklahoman put on a delightfully politically incorrect and musically powerful show ... every song was musically rich. And Keith performed them strongly. He was the consummately cool personality, the outlaw who unlike so many younger country singers doesn't have to tell anyone he's an outlaw." Tulsa World also praised, "Keith's commanding presence on stage with his strong voice and talented band gave those fans exactly what they wanted." For information on more tour dates and tickets, visit www.TobyKeith.com.